Massive 395lb great white shark, named Jekyll, is stalking the coast of Maine – weeks after he left the Hamptons – just as families get ready to flock to the beach for the Fourth
- Jekyll the Shark last pinged on Sunday around 10pm off the coast of Georgetown Island – located roughly 40 miles south of Augusta, Maine
- He was last Z-pinged – meaning his tag broke the surface – on late Tuesday evening
- He has been making his way up north from Georgia since December last year and is now lurking off the coast of Maine ahead of the Fourth of July
A massive 395-pound shark named Jekyll is stalking the coast of Maine, north of Cape Cod, just weeks after it left the Hamptons as families gear up for a holiday beach weekend.
Jekyll the Shark, who was named after being tagged off the coast of Jekyll Island in Georgia, has been making his way up north since December last year and is now lurking off the coast of Maine ahead of the Fourth of July.
He was last pinged on Sunday around 10pm off the coast of Georgetown Island – located roughly 40 miles south of Augusta. He was last Z-pinged – meaning his tag broke the surface – on late Tuesday evening.
The juvenile shark currently weighs nearly 400 pounds and measures more than 8.5 feet long. Since being tagged, the young shark has traveled nearly 3,000 miles.
There are several sharks lingering off the coast of Maine in the gulf, as well as around 20 swimming between Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod in Massachusetts, according to Ocearch Shark Tracker.
Jekyll the Shark, who was named after being tagged off the coast of Jekyll Island in Georgia, has been making his way up north since December last year and is now lurking off the coast of Maine ahead of the Fourth of July (pictured: stock image)
He was last pinged on Sunday around 10pm off the coast of Georgetown Island – located roughly 40 miles south of Augusta. He was last Z-pinged – meaning his tag broke the surface – on late Tuesday evening
Despite the literary character Dr. Jekyll having an evil personality, sharks in Maine are not ones to usually bother beachgoers, with the first deadly encounter happening in 2020 off Bailey Island.
Prior to Julie Dimperio Holowach’s incident, locals believed it was impossible for the sharks to become violent off the coast of the northern state.
‘When we found out what happened, it was just traumatic for everybody,’ resident Cathy Piffath told News Center Maine last year. ‘It was a total shock. It was an eye-opener for everyone in the community.’
For nervous beachgoers this weekend, since the attack, some towns use purple shark flags at beaches where sharks have been spotted in the last 24 hours. The purple flag can also been seen on Florida beaches.
There’s only been around 1,200 shark attacks worldwide in the last 50 years, which a 14 percent fatality rate, according to Floridapanhandle.com.
Sharks in Maine are not ones to usually bother beachgoers, with the first deadly encounter happening in 2020 off Bailey Island (pictured: beachgoers in Old Orchard, ME, in 2022)
Sharks oftentimes attack unprovoked in the afternoon and July 2022 saw the highest record of attacks with 17. Many of the fatal attacks happened in Florida, Hawaii, California, and South Carolina in the US. The US has the most attacks, ringing in over 700 of the 1,200.
Australia comes in second with a little over 250 attacks in the last 50 years, according to Floridapanhandle.com.
Out of the 1,200 attacks, great white sharks amounted to nearly 180 of them.
Last week, a Florida fisherman was pulled off his boat in the Everglades National Park after a shark jumped up and grabbed him.
The footage showed the man reaching near the water as the shark jumped up and pulled him in. The man was left scrambling to get back on the boat as his friends screamed. Blood was splatted on the side of the boat as the man made it back inside.
According to local outlets, the man was airlifted Friday to a hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue after park rangers initially responded to the scene.
Wildlife officials are now using the video to urge those going fishing to exercise basic precautions while out on the water.
‘PSA: please don’t make the same mistake and please keep your hands and feet in the vessel,’ wrote one fishing guide who shared the video to Instagram.
